Chatting with a roaster in Portland shifted my view on light roasts

I was at a small shop there a few days ago and mentioned I always found light roasts too sour. The roaster, a woman named Lena, said "you're probably brewing it like a dark roast." She explained that for a specific Ethiopian bean she had, I needed to grind finer and use water just off a boil, around 205 degrees. I tried it her way when I got home and the fruit notes came through clean instead of sharp. Has anyone else had a roast type completely change for them after adjusting one small thing?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah_harris1mo ago

My old coffee maker probably thought I was trying to punish it with my light roast experiments. Lena's advice was a total game changer for my morning cup.

willows381mo ago

Light roast is the best though.

claire9581mo ago

Tell that to sarah_harris's poor coffee maker.